Under a grilling before a packed public gallery, Mr Hayes admitted: a victim was forced to re-enact the sexual abuse in his office using her dad’s hands to show how Byrnes touched her; he omitted accusations when reporting the abuse to his superiors that Byrnes put his hands down a girl’s pants; he never liked Byrnes, despite re-hiring him after he retired.

Mr Hayes is still working at another Catholic school.

Byrnes is behind bars.

Mr Hayes told the commission he thought it was more appropriate to refer allegations against Byrnes to the Catholic Education Office than the police.

“The view that I formed was that principals were of the understanding that the CEO was the first port of call, and that the Bishop must not be compromised,” Mr Hayes said.

“The CEO told the principals that they were there to help us.”

Byrnes’ crimes occured within the past decade, despite protocols in place in the school for how to deal with sexual abuse. The inquiry heard how the first girl who came to his office with a complaint was forced to re-enact the abuse using her father’s hands in Mr Hayes’s office.

Junior Counsel Assisting Andrew Naylor, SC, asked Mr Hayes whether the girl had been asked to ``demonstrate’’ her allegations after describing them in detail.

``Am I correct in understanding that after (the girl) had described to you the conduct of Mr Byrnes, you asked her to demonstrate what he did using her father?’’ he said.